


adhæsit

by qar



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bromance, Fluff, Hopeful Ending, How Do I Tag, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), not rly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 17:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16202453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qar/pseuds/qar
Summary: everyone's dead and the world's stopped turning.how come it hasn't been set right yet?or rhodey and the aftermath.





	adhæsit

**Author's Note:**

> there's fanart for this on my tumblr acc, if you'd like to see it; it's on annoyingllamataco.tumblr.com. it's pretty easy to find; i never reblog anything. enjoy!

Everyone is dust. 

Sure, not everyone. Half the universe. But everyone he loved. Or, at least, he thinks so. He hasn't heard from Pepper or Happy during this Day Where Everything Was Slightly A Lot More Than Absolutely Horrible, and Tony and Spiderman haven't been seen since- 

...

Rhodey doesn't know whether it would be better for them to be dust or to be lost in space- especially Tony, who Rhodey knows has been tortured by the dark abyss of space since the Battle Of New York.

 And better yet, most of the survivors he recognises are the Rogues, and of course the big purple Yeezy was such a threat he had to be civil and not bash their heads in.

 Not that they helped much. Thanos still won. Everyone was still dead. Tony was still missing. 

But he held on to some faith. Not a lot, but a little. Tony had proven several times to be able to get himself out of sticky situations, unless he was dead, to which _please don't be dead._

Around him, Wakandan soldiers are gathering in shocked silence, helping the injured. Those who are left.

Natasha and Steve and Thor are gathered, and Bruce looks shocked and disbelieving and confused. 

Rhodey feels the same. 

Princess Shuri- or Queen Shuri, now, has set about helping. Keeping the little hope left alive.

Everyone and everything is cracked and broken.

\--------

Rhodey remembers that once, when he was young, he had dreamed of leading. 

He's accomplished that dream, of course; he achieved the rank of colonel. He's accomplished a lot more than he had expected at seventeen, when he dragged his young, misguided friend out of trouble daily and occasionally joined him. 

At 13, he remembers telling Ma about WWI, and how he wanted to help the army like all the soldiers he had read about, while reaching for a mixing bowl for Mama to make cake batter in. 

He had wanted to lead. To help. 

This wasn't how he wanted to help.

\------

Shuri needs help leading.

It's not downgrading or anything; she's a sixteen year old and she's already queen of her country and the Black Panther.

It's a burden. 

Rhodey calls Pepper, who, thank fucking jesus, picks up, hysterical. Happy has disintegrated. She and Tony will never get married. He will never be best man to their wedding. 

Rhodey aches. 

Once they're both calm, Rhodey instructs her to assist all civilians, he won't be back for a while, and to call all known vigilantes to please, please gather and help them defeat Thanos. 

Rhodey has a plan, but there's something missing. The wheels won't turn.

\-------

Rhodey's holding on to a thin, thin string of perseverance. 

It comes close to snapping when he sees the Rogues; it comes even closer when his leg braces snap and he has to repair them himself- not that he minds, or couldn't, but when they used to, Tony would insist he do it and they'd call Mama Rhodes and have a nice chat.

They're both gone, and his engineering degree is coming in handy.

\------

Rhodey gathers the survivors and announces the plan. Someone points out the missing component. Rhodey tells them to wait a few days. They'll give up if he doesn't return by then. 

\------

Pepper is a godsend. 

New York is back in working condition again, and is soon sending aid to other countries. 

No one's come back yet.

\------

A few days have passed, and a miracle happens. 

\-------

Rhodey calls Ma. 

Music echoes through his ears. It's one of his ma's favourites; la vie en rose; she sung it to him a lot as a kid.

He's been listening to this for a long time. His sister picks up. 

They're both in tears when the call ends.

\------

"Colonel Rhodes. Quick."

Rhodey knew he'd come back.

It just hurt so much to even think his little brother figure and best friend had died.

It hurt to know his ma and other best friend were dead.

It hurt in general. 

Shuri gripped his arm and helped him hobble to the field as fast as possible. There, right there, was a huge, trashed, miracle working spaceship. Rocket was already digging a blue alien out of the wreckage; someone else was attempting to get it off of the destroyed armour.

Rhodey called War Machine and dug in, before pulling his best friend out and giving him a long hug, sinking to the floor with him as someone called for a medic. He could hear someone crying; either him or Tony or both of them, and now that he thought about it, he couldn't see Spiderman or Doctor Strange, who had left Earth with his psuedo brother. The medics pulled them apart. 

The wheels slowly started turning.


End file.
